Nama untuk warga dunia

Keluarga kecil saya terdiri dari berbagai macam kewarganegaraan. Saya orang Indonesia yg menikah dengan orang Malaysia keturunan cina. Ke 2 anak kami pun berbeda kewarganegaraan; yang besar berwarganegara New Zealand, dan yang kecil berwarganegara Malaysia.

Seperti umumnya orang Indonesia, saya tidak punya family name. Family name saya dapat dari family name suami saya setelah saya menikah. Nama asli saya (given name) pun tidak berbau Indonesia.

Sedangkan suami saya, meskipun dia keturunan cina, dia tidak memakai nama cina. Namanya lebih berbau international seperti kebanyakan nama orang America/Eropa. Cuma family namenya saja yang menggunakan nama cina.

Anak-anak kami dinamai berdasarkan film yang kami berdua suka. Supaya adil, kami berdua memberi nama anak2 kami. Anak pertama , nama pertamanya (first name) saya yang kasih. Namanya sama dengan bintang film ganteng idola saya...:) Nama tengahnya (middle name) yang memberi nama suami saya. Berhubung dia tidak terlalu kreatif dan tidak siap, dia ambil dari nama tengahnya sendiri.

Untuk anak ke 2, kebalikannya, first namenya yang kasih nama adalah suami saya. Suami saya mengambil nama leading lady di film kesukaannya untuk first name anak kedua kami. Middle namenya saya yang kasih. Nama tengahnya saya ambil dari nama karakter di film kesukaan saya.

Nama keluarga harus diberi mengikuti nama keluarga suami saya.

Nama anak-anak kami pun tidak terlalu aneh-aneh dengan pertimbangan karena kami keluarga United Nations dan kemungkinan untuk travelling keliling dunia cukup tinggi. Jadi, nama anak-anak harus mengikuti template nama di passport supaya mudah dibaca dan diterima di seluruh dunia.

Sebagai orang Indonesia yg tidak punya family name, saya sudah tahu bagaimana repotnya kalau berurusan dengan imigrasi terutama di luar Indonesia. Ditambah lagi nama saya sama sekali tidak berbau Indonesia. Kalau sudah keluar Indonesia, tidak ada orang percaya kalau saya orang Indonesia. Orang asing mengira saya orang Fiipina karena nama dan wajah saya yang seperti kebanyakan orang Filipina.

Sebelum saya menikah, agar saya dapat membuat passport, saya harus menciptakan nama keluarga (last name/family name). Tapi berhubung di akte kelahiran pun tidak ada nama keluarga, jadi yg ada nama baptis lah yg dipakai untuk last name karena kebetulan saya menempatkan nama baptis saya diurutan belakang.

Setelah saya menikah, saya harus mengganti susunan nama saya agar sesuai dengan template passport di seluruh dunia. Suami saya yang membantu menyusun ulang nama saya agar saya punya first name, middle name, dan family name. Akhirnya, sampai sekarang saya memakai nama yang baru tersebut.

Berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi, saya tidak mau anak-anak saya mengalami kesulitan di masa depan dengan nama mereka. Jadi saya dan suami saya sepakat memberi nama yang mudah diterima oleh masyarakat dunia. Saya dan suami pun sepakat untuk tidak menambahkan nama cina untuk anak-anak kami dengan pertimbangan yang sama. Kami berharap agar anak-anak kami dapat memiliki kesempatan lebih luas di bagian negara manapun tanpa harus pusing dengan nama mereka dan kami juga tidak ingin mereka dikategorikan dalam salah satu kelompok masyarakat di dunia.

Bagaimana dengan anda? Pertimbangan apakah yang anda ambil ketika memberi nama anak-anak anda?

Preserving the tradition in foreign land

On my birthday I woke up so early exactly at the same time when the sun rose that day. I felt so fresh and so full of energy I could run in the park longer than I usually do. Then I heard my cell vibrated indicating that someone was texting me. It was from my friend wishing me Happy Birthday. I was so surprise that he woke up so early but it turned out he was on his night shift at work so at that time he was still in the office.

I went downstairs and called one of my maids to accompany me to go to wet market. I never got a chance to go to wet market so early like that day. When I arrived in the market, I was so happy because all the vegetables were still complete and very fresh, and so were the fishes and everything else. Suddenly I saw a big round rattan tray like the ones the Indonesian always uses to make nasi tumpeng. In Indonesia it's called tampah but in the Philippines it is called bilao. So I bought the biggest one. I thought of making nasi tumpeng for my own birthday party. It would be great surprise for everyone because I never tried to make this thing before and no one in the house has ever seen a nasi tumpeng. I have bought the other ingredients a day before. Oh, before I forget, nasi tumpeng is an Indonesian yellow rice (turmeric rice) cone shaped buffet style dish served on round rattan tray. The cone shaped yellow rice is usually surrounded by 7 kinds of side dishes that represent the wealth, dedication, and the glorious time. The side dishes usually are chicken, prawn, perkedel (mashed potato with corned beef fritters), mixed vegetables, eggs, mixed fried peanut and anchovy, and some kinds of tempe (soya bean cake) dish. But there is no tempe in Philippines so I didn't cook that one item.

With the recipe from my beloved mother that she sent through smses, a picture from an old Indonesian recipe magazine that I brought to Philippines, I was determined to complete this nasi tumpeng for lunch birthday for me and my family.

At 7am, I started the work together with the maid I took to wet market. I chose her because she has passion for cooking. She is a Filipina and never knew and never saw a nasi tumpeng before. I had to give her very clear instructions and had to make sure that she could follow through properly so that the result would be just like the picture.

Since I didn't plan ahead, I didn't do any preparation nor making any decoration for the tampah for this nasi tumpeng. I understood that nasi tumpeng is a very complicated Indonesian dish. It was an elaborate complete Indonesian dishes in one tray but I still wanted to do it. My mom was a champion of nasi tumpeng creation. She won an award for making the most beautiful nasi tumpeng in the competition of nasi tumpeng during one of Indonesian Indepence day celebrations when I was only 10 years old. I witnessed how she created all. I wanted to be like her. She was so excited too when I informed her about it. She kept on texting me with so many tips.

Finally, at around 12.30pm, everything was completed and fully decorated. I had done my magic in the kitchen and it was time to show off the result...:)
Everyone was so surprised, especially my husband. Everyone said the nasi tumpeng was very unique and beautiful. The candles were lighted by my husband. He gave me 2 dozen of red and pink roses for the birthday gift. He also bought 2 boxes of Collete's buko pie to compliment my nasi tumpeng. My Tagalog teacher and my 2 maids were present too. After we sang happy birthday for me, I blew the candle with the help from my beloved son. Then I gave the honor to my husband to cut the peak of the cone rice. Everyone said the nasi tumpeng was a blast. The dishes were delicious and beautifully presented.

I was so happy and satisfied with the result. I could not believe I did it without any preparation. I know that my first nasi tumpeng is far from perfect but the pride I got from being able to preserve the tradition in the foreign land for non-Indonesians to enjoy was hard to describe, especially tomorrow is the Indonesian Indepence day. In fact, this nasi kuning was not the only tradition/culture of Indonesia that I carried to Philippines, I also introduced batik attire. I wore batik once to the Parents and Teachers Association meeting and I had many compliment from my filipina friends that my batik dress was very beautiful. I felt so heroic for I managed to introduce my Javanese tradition in The Philippines. No matter how far I am from my country, I still love my Indonesia. Although in my family, I am the only  Indonesian and I do not live in my country for many years, Indonesia is still in my blood and my way of life. Merdeka! Happy Independence day, Indonesia! Selamat Hari Merdeka Indonesiaku tercinta!

To end this post, I would like to write down the lyric of the beautiful song that always reminds me of Indonesia that was composed by Ismail Marzuki:


Indonesia, tanah air beta (Indonesia my homeland)
Pusaka abadi nan jaya (greatest long lasting heritage)
Indonesia, sejak dulu kala (Indonesia since a long time ago)
Tetap dipuja-puja bangsa (is always be praised by other nations)

Disana tempat lahir beta (it was the place I was born)
Dibuai dibesarkan bunda (raised and sang lullabies by mother)
Tempat berlindung di hari tua (it is the place for my retirement)
Tempat akhir menutup mata.(it is the place for me to rest in peace)

Sungguh indah tanah air beta (What a beautiful my homeland)
Tiada bandingnya di dunia (nothing compared to it in the whole world)
Karya indah Tuhan Maha Kuasa (Beautiful creation of God the Almighty)
Bagi bangsa yang memujanya (for the people that praise His Holy name)

Indonesia ibu pertiwi (Indonesia the motherland)
Kau kupuja kau kukasihi (I adore you I love you)
Tenagaku bahkan pun jiwaku (My energy and even my soul)
Kepadamu rela kuberi (I give them to you all willingly).





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I'm sorry if the English translation is not perfect.

Learn to appreciate your other half

It is four minutes to 10 o'clock at night, my husband is still outside for some office work and my 2 children have been asleep for more than an hour. Not every night they go to bed so early like right now. They must be exhausted for I took them for swimming this afternoon for 2 hours. So, now I am having my me-time all alone in this cold quiet night. I have many things I want to do now that I can concentrate fully on what I do, such as reading the novel, continue writing my blog, watching TV while munching some Ipoh peanuts I got from one of my husband's colleague who visited Malaysia, or I could just play game on Facebook. These are things I would not be able to do when the children are awake. Let me start by continuing on writing my blog so that I will have a new post. Let's see if I can fight the temptation of playing games, especially playing Bejeweled Blitz that I love very much...:)

Yesterday one of my contacts in Facebook wrote the status like this, "Thanks to my wife.  Love you full!" Apparently they just finished moving house and this friend of mine felt grateful with all the help he got during that period, especially the help he got from his wife who has done the sorting, packing, and taking care of everything else including their 3 children all by herself.  He himself had to take care of his work in the office most of the time. He knew it was not easy for his wife to handle things by herself and the fact that she managed to complete everything and has made the transition to the new house as smoothly as possible was something great that he really need to appreciate.
Nearly a month ago I moved house too. This was my 8th time of moving house. Among the 8, this was quite the easiest one because I didn't have to move house to a different country across the sea as in the other 7. Also this time I had some help from my 2 maids.  The previous 7 times, I had to do the complete set of moving house procedures all by myself.  The hardest was the 5th when I had to move house from New Zealand to Kuching, Malaysia. At that time, I also just gave birth to my first child and was all alone. So, compared to the 5th, the 8th transition to the new house was the easiest one.

Even though it was the easiest one, still, the complete set of moving house procedures have to be followed. Since I had 2 maids, they were the ones to do the packing and the moving for me while I took care of all important stuffs such as dealing with the house owner, making sure the new house was livable, and buying the furniture since the new house was unfurnished. I also had to take care of the children. As usual, my other half could only take care of his work in the office. Even this time, he was overseas for a month. So, I tried my best to work together with the house owner to make sure everything was fine in the house before we started to move or at least, before my husband came back. Every single thing in the new house that didn't work properly, I would point out so that it could be fixed. Praised the Lord the house owner is such a wonderful man. He was very helpful and cared about my requests very much. I felt great that he was willing to listen to me and he made sure everything was done properly.

Finally, when my other half came back home, things in the new house were ready and everything has been moved to the new house, except for the TV and the stereo system. My husband was very surprised that I managed to take care of everything by myself. He was very satisfied with the new house. He said he liked the new house better. I told him that is because I have made sure that the new house was ready for us to stay. I have learned my lesson from the experiences of moving house many times; especially the fact that I always had to do everything by myself. Thank God, my husband understood that all these moving things are never easy for me. He gave me a hug and kissed me. He said, "Thank you very much, dear. I know I can count on you." He didn't announce it on the Facebook though and neither did I because I think that is enough for me to see that my husband has appreciated my hard work and my support for him. I felt really good and I remember that every time I enter the house. Many times my husband asked me why I always smile when I enter the house. I told him that's because I remember the time when you hugged and kissed me and said Thank you to me. He said I'm crazy…:) Oh well, he may not realize that his simple act has done wonder to lift up my spirit. I know it very well that appreciating someone's hard work always brings a positive energy to that person and to the relationship with that person. So, I am also trying my best every time to appreciate what my husband does to me. I believe that a simple word like 'thank you', especially when it is added with an act of love such as hug or kiss, it will help to maintain the relationship. This is important for our marriage. So, yeah, start to learn to appreciate your other half. It will do the magic to help you to bring her/him closer to you.

When being paranoid is a good thing

I am a very paranoid person. In my life, I always think about the worst case scenario, especially if I am faced with the unknown situation. Very often my other half think that my paranoia is excessive and very disturbing. He can't understand why I am like that. He finds it really unnessary to be so paranoid about everything.

But to me, my paranoia really helped me to prepare myself especially on Wednesday night when the first typhoon of the year, typhoon Conson (or Basyang in Philippines) made a surprised landfall and directly hit the area I live. Many people were not prepared as the earlier track shown that it would not hit our area directly and the warning signal given was only signal no. 1.

When my husband informed me on Wednesday morning that there was a typhoon heading our way, I made sure all the emergency survival kits were within our reach and ready to be used anytime. My emergency light and torchlights were fully charged, my candles and matches were ready too. I also have full stock of emergency food. The last year typhoon experiences have taught me never to underestimate the power of a typhoon.

On that day, we didn't see the sun at all the whole day. It was very dark, wet, and cold. But since no one expected to be a direct hit, life went by as usual. Tree branches were not cut, and I even got my new satelite disc installed :)

At 11pm when everyone was already asleep, the wind has become very very strong. I haven't been able to close my eyes since 9pm when I put my kids to sleep. My six sense telling me that the typhoon was going to stop by our area. I started to feel scared and nervous especially when I saw the tree in front of my house swaying violently left and right. The sound of the strong wind pierced my ears. I had a strong urge of checking the typhoon path at www.typhoon2000.ph and when I did, I was so surprised to see that the typhoon was heading directly to our province and at 2am, it would make a landfall with strong wind and rain.

Oh my God! I was paranoid again. I was afraid that my emergency preparation was not enough. I quickly woke up my husband to get ready the emergency light. But he was too sleepy to care about my paranoia. So he just continued sleeping. I got up and went down to get my emergency light. I put all candles and matches on the table, and I even had time to update my status on Facebook informing everyone that Conson was here already. Just when I completed everything, the electricity went off. I opened the curtain in my bedroom so I could see the situation outside. And it was getting worse with the wind blowing so hard. Never in my life I saw how strong the wind blew it could bend the big mahogany tree in front of my house. But that night I saw it happened in front of my eyes. I was very scared my heart bumping so hard too. I was afraid that the mahogany tree root would loose its grip and the tree would fall to my house. I literary screamed everytime the strong wind came and swept away everything outside my window. My husband woke up and asked me to close the curtain and return to sleep.There's no way I would be able to sleep in a complete darkness knowing that outside, a violent wind swept accross our region. Then at nearly midnight, I received a text from my neighbor informing me that the warning signal has been raised to signal no. 2 and there would not be any classes on Thursday. So my son would not go to school.

Just before 2am, the rain came down together with the strong wind. I never stopped praying asking protection from God the Almighty for my little family that I love so much. The rain and wind, plus many mahogany fruits that dropped down on my roof made so much noise. My son and my daughter woke up, screamed, and cried because they were frightened by the darkness and by the sound of the wind. My husband hugged and comforted my son while I sat down rocking back and forth to comfort my daughter who held my shirt so tightly. I tried to sing for her but my weak heart didn't even want to stop thundering. My daughter could feel it and she got even more frightened. With all my might I tried to calm myself down so that my daughter would not feel how scared I was with the situation. My daughter and my son finally went back to sleep. Not long, my husband also snored; but not me :( Although my eyes were extremely heavy, my mind didn't want to rest. I prayed and prayed that the typhoon would be over soon. But it worsened instead. I stood up near the window and tried to see the situation outside but I could not see a thing. The rain and wind blurred my vision. I gave up and tried to sleep. I kept on teeling myself that God never leaves me alone. He is always there at the right time and on the right moment according to Him.

Finally at around 3-4am, there was no sound outside my window. Everything went quiet as if nothing had happened before. I knew the typhoon has gone away. I closed my eyes at around 4.30am just when I heard my maid got out of the house. She told me that my neighbor wanted to borrow our candle and matches because they had none.I managed to sleep for 2 hours before my children woke me up at around 6am.

When I woke up, I saw the road in front of my house was in a mess. Tree branches and mahogany fruits scattered everywhere. I also saw everyone started to clean up the mess created by the typhoon. The black out continued the whole day. We were forced to finish 2 litres of ice cream that has melted and to cook all the chicken, meat and fishes. The electricity was restored at around 10pm. I really thanked the Lord for protecting us always. I thank Lord for I am so paranoid about anything and this makes me prepared always.

You have completed my life.

Two years ago every time I went to the mall, my heart ached. I saw there were many beautiful dresses for little girls. It was not easy to find great cloths for my little boy. Boy's attire was very plain and boring, not like those for little girls. I told myself, "If only I had a little girl, she would be very beautiful wearing those beautiful dresses." I felt that there was something missing in my life without the presence of a little girl that I could dress her up like a little princess.

Holiday tickets from God

I am finally back in The Philippines after nearly a month taking vacation in Indonesia. Even if the situation here similar to my home country, it is still Home sweet home :) and I have a wonderful story to share with you about this trip.

I truly believe now that God was the One to reserve the plane ticket for this Indonesia trip. It was the answer to my prayer. But before the departure day, I was not so sure if I should really go because I was so paranoid with the comfort and health of my children in my home country. I was so paranoid until the day I departed from terminal 3 Ninoy Aquino Int'l airport. I got a terrible stomachache, panic attack, nervousness, nausea, etc. I dreaded going to Indonesia. I really wanted to cancel it. But on the other hand, I also didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Happy Melahirkan

Sebagai seorang wanita, pengalaman hidup yang paling menakjubkan bagi saya adalah pengalaman mengandung dan melahirkan anak-anak saya. Ingatan saya segera meluncur ke saat saya mengandung dan melahirkan anak pertama yang sudah saya tunggu-tunggu selama 5 tahun. Meskipun peristiwa tersebut terjadi 6 tahun yang lalu, saya masih ingat segala perasaan campur aduk yang saya rasakan: rasa bahagia, takut, panik, dan cemas. Saya bahagia dengan kehamilan ini tetapi saya tidak terlalu PD untuk melahirkannya karena saya tidak memiliki pengetahuan dan pengalaman melahirkan karena ini adalah kehamilan saya yang pertama. Lagipula saat itu saya berada di negara orang, tidak ada sanak keluarga yang mendampingi saya dan saya sedang berusaha keras menamatkan sekolah. Selama hamil pun saya lebih berkonsentrasi pada studi saya karena saya tidak mau menunda kelulusan. Satu-satunya yang menjadi pegangan adalah buku tentang kehamilan dan melahirkan yang dikirim oleh suami saya. Saya juga berdoa tiap malam agar semua berjalan lancar. Puji Tuhan karena doa saya didengar. Saya melahirkan dengan normal tanpa ada komplikasi, tanpa C-section, dan saya pun tetap bisa lulus sekolah tepat waktu dengan nilai yang sangat memuaskan. Tiada saat yang lebih membahagiakan daripada saat saya menggendong bayi saya dan menyusuinya untuk pertama kali selepas dia dilahirkan.

Berdasarkan pengalaman tersebut, ketika Meidya Derni dan We R Mommies Indonesia menerbitkan buku ebook/audiobook yg berjudul “Happy Melahirkan”, dengan senang hati saya menjadi reseller karena ebook/audiobook ini berisi segala informasi komplit yang dibutuhkan oleh semua ibu yang hendak melahirkan, meliputi persiapan sebelum melahirkan (dari pertimbangan memilih tempat kelahiran dan ahli yang akan membantu kelahiran, bagaimana kalau posisi bayi sungsang, atau bayi lahir premature, sampai metode-metode melahirkan yang dapat mengurangi rasa sakit saat melahirkan) dan sesudah melahirkan (pemberian ASI, babyblues, perawatan selama 40 hari setelah melahirkan), termasuk juga informasi untuk sang ayah agar dapat berperan aktif dalam membantu mempersiapkan kelahiran si bayi yang sudah dinanti-nantikan.

Selain itu, terdapat juga sharing cerita dari mommies anggota We R Mommies Indonesia mengenai pengalaman melahirkan mereka. Komplit sekali kan? Rasanya semua pertanyaan bumil tentang melahirkan akan dapat terjawab oleh informasi yang diberikan di ebook/audiobook ini.  Selain itu, dengan menerbitkan ebook/audiobook ini, We R Mommies Indonesia ingin membantu pemerintah Indonesia dalam rangka menurunkan angka kematian ibu dan bayi saat melahirkan karena apabila si ibu yang akan melahirkan mendapatkan cukup pengetahuan tentang persiapan melahirkan, si ibu akan merasa lebih tenang dan kuat untuk melahirkan. 

Oleh karena itu, jangan sampai mom semua seperti saya saat melahirkan anak pertama. Kalau moms ingin PD saat melahirkan, langsung saja klik disini untuk mendapatkan informasi terlengkap tentang cara pintar persiapan melahirkan ini.

Audiobook Happy Melahirkan dapat didengarkan kapan saja, sambil masak, sambil kerja, sambil tiduran pun bisa mendengarkan. Kan lebih enak kayak dibacain buku cerita. Musik pengantarnya pun sangat menenangkan. Udah gitu si bapak juga bisa ikut mendengarkan kapan saja. Kalau malas mendengarkan dan lebih seneng membaca, buku ini bisa dibaca di computer atau di perangkat mobile lainnya. Tulisannya gede-gede, bahasanya pun tidak terlalu formal  dan kaku. Yakin seneng deh bacanya. Lah saya saja yang tidak sedang hamil pun senang bacanya. Jadi teringat masa-masa menakjubkan itu.

Harganya murah banget kok. Cuman Rp89ribu. Yang lebih asiknya lagi, bukan cuman dapat ebook/audiobook ini, tetapi juga bisa daftar jadi reseller. Lumayan untuk tambahan uang saku. Sang ayah pun boleh loh menjadi reseller. Kalo tertarik, silahkan langsung klik disini atau klik di banner Happy Melahirkan di halaman ini.


Kalau mau nanya-nanya, silahkan kirimkan pertanyaan anda melalui email atau comment di artikel ini. I’ll be very happy to answer your queries. Silahkan email saya di coffeeliqueur[dot]gmail[dot]com. I look forward to hearing from you all. Saya berharap semua ibu-ibu Indonesia mendapatkan pengalaman melahirkan yang paling membahagiakan.

Summer vacation to Indonesia

Next week I will fly back to my home country, Indonesia. I haven't been back for nearly 2 years. This time I will go back only with my 2 children, a 5 years old and a 1.5 years old; no hubby and no maid to accompany me. I know it won't be easy but I will have to try to manage the situation well or I will never be able to go back home. My other half is very busy working and I don't even want to waste my time wishing he would join us. I hope the children will cooperate with me so that it will be easier for me to take care of everything. This time it will be my daughter's first time to visit her mother's home country. My parents really can't wait to see us. They are so excited. The last time they saw my children was Christmas 2008, before we moved to Philippines.They are counting the days and texting me everyday. :)

Happy Easter

Hello! Happy Easter everyone! How was your Easter celebration?

I had a wonderful Easter though we missed the holy Thursday mass because I have read the mass schedule wrongly. When we arrived at the church, everyone was leaving the church.

This is my first Easter here in Philippines. I feel great for I was able to experience how this country observed the holy week and Easter as the majority population is Christian Catholic. Before I moved here I could only follow the news in the newspaper.

Puntafuego beach resort, Nasugbu, Batangas

I'm in the mid of a project called "keep my son away from the computer and games as much as possible". It has been 3 weeks since the last time my son played the computer games. I want my son to see that he can have fun by doing other things than just playing computer games. His addiction to the computer games has changed his attitude and behavior to the negative side although he is still one of top five in his class with the highest grade for the computer subject. I'm not proud about it at all. I am very concern about the changes in his attitude and behavior more, and this has led me to plan a family vacation out of town for the weekend.

My driving licenses & me

For the past 13 years of my life, I have been living away from my country. I moved from one country to another looking for a better opportunity in life.

For 13 years I have learned to adapt to the local ways of living so that I can be accepted and feel home in the new country, and that include the local way of driving. If there's a need for me to drive in the new country, then I have to make a local driving license.

I'm not a local (yet)

I'm entering the 9th month of my stay in The Philippines. I'm happy to say that my family and I have adapted to everything here pretty well. We have collected many friends also. In fact, I personally have more friends here now compared to when I was in Malaysia. I think 1 good reason why it is easier for me to find friends here is because I do look like one of them. Everywhere I go people always come to me and start to speak in Tagalog and since I have learned to speak the language, I can reply to them with my broken Tagalog, and (to my advantage) no one will notice my broken Tagalog because of my face...wha..ha..ha.. They always forgive me and keep talking to me... :)

Welcome to the year of 2010

Happy New Year everyone! How's your new year celebration? Mine was great. It was my first time to celebrate new year here in The Philippines. My family and I were happy to see so many fireworks right in front of our house lighted by our neighbors. It's our first time to see fireworks so near like that. We just had to stand in front of our gate and we could see so many kinds of fireworks and firecrackers. My son was scared but he loved the fireworks show. My daughter was sleeping so well when the fireworks show happened. She didn't even move an inch though the fireworks made so much noise.

A special season's greeting for you all

Life goes on, friends come and go in our lives
We try to survive the challenges in our lives with or without friends
We would be lucky if we found a true friend who sticks with us no matter what

I won't be home for Christmas

As I'm typing this post; I'm listening to 'Home', a beautiful song by Michael Bublé.

Another Christmas is coming and again I will miss going back home to celebrate Christmas with my family in my home country. I lost count on how many Christmas celebrations I have always been the only one missing. In fact, since I got married 10 years ago, only once I was able to join family Christmas celebration in Yogyakarta where all my family gathered for a simple Christmas dinner.

Counting my blessing

I’m trying to count how many times God’s blessing for me and my family followed us always. Just in 10 days of our holiday trip to Malaysia, God’s hands have played part in many ways of saving our lives where ever we go.

The land of typhoon

The land of typhoon, it's one of many names I gave to The Philippines as many typhoons land on the archipelago; at least 20 typhoons a year. Some are moderate and some are destructive typhoons like the two typhoons that have just battered this country: typhoon Ketsana (It's called Ondoy in Philippines) and typhoon Parma (it's Pepeng in Philippines).

Mt. Makiling trip

This tree is called Mickey Mouse tree. Do you see why??...;)

After 4 months living in The Philippines, we are pretty much adjusted to the situation, the people, the culture, the weather, and the food. In fact, many times I kind of forget where I am. In my mind I was in my home country but then when the people started to speak to me, I got my feet back on the ground...:)

God's beautiful gift

Time flies really fast. Last week my daughter has celebrated her 1st birthday. She was very sick though at that time. She had high fever of 41 ⁰ Celsius and rashes all over her body which turned out to be baby measles. She recovered in 3 days. Now she is up and about, one busy little girl.

It seemed only yesterday I just gave birth to her and posted her baby picture here. I even haven't had time to post any stories about her when she was a baby, and now she is growing up to be a cheeky girl. She can walk and talk. She is very girly and very talkative. She shows a very different personality compared to her big brother. I really enjoy taking care of her as much as I enjoy taking care of her brother.
I am very blessed to have her to complete my life. I have a handsome boy and a beautiful little girl. Both are very smart in their own way.

Unlike her big brother who shows interest in books, computer, and Math, my little princess shows more interest in language and all the girly things such as hair clips, dolls, and flowers. She loves to dance and she hums along with the song :)

She is also more independent than the big brother. By 1 year old, she is able to feed herself while her brother is still fed until now he is nearly 5 years old.
She insists on feeding herself with a spoon. Although the number of rice falling down to the floor is more than the ones go into her mouth, she is able to finish 1 whole bowl of rice with chicken soup faster than me! Oh, she loves to eat vegetables and chicken, by the way. She says "Checken!" for chicken :) and she eats vegetables like eating peanuts :) When she is full, she will show it to me by tapping her belly and refuse to be fed anything.

She is able to drink from a cup since she is 1 month old. I trained her to drink the breast milk from a cup whenever I didn't breastfeed her. So she is able to master drinking from the cup at a very young age. Up to present, she is still breastfed. That's the only milk she wants to drink.
My girl was very happy when she was able to drink using a straw just a week before her 1st birthday. She has been practicing since she was 2 months old.

My little girl is also able to brush her teeth by herself. She is very happy to brush her teeth while I brush her brother's teeth. She will happily show you her 8 pearly white teeth when you ask her to smile.

Unlike her brother who is very friendly and laughs easily, my little girl doesn't laugh so easily. She is more careful towards other people other than those who take care of her every day. She is also more careful in doing things such as climbing and playing. She pays attention more on people's facial expression. Oh, she is also a great imitator She will copy actions, words, and also facial expressions from people she think fascinate her. It's like having a Xerox machine

My daughter’s favorite hangout place is...Starbucks! Try asking her where she wants to have dinner. She would quickly answer you with "Starbucks!" then ask her what she wants to eat. She'll reply you "Checken!" and the problem is, Starbucks doesn't sell chicken

When I'm busy teaching her brother to do his homework or to prepare for exam, she will keep herself busy drawing on the floor or do body painting. She will draw all over her body though I have given her papers to draw. When I shower her, I can even find a picture on her head!

My maid loves to do my daughter's hair with many styles and put on cute hair pins on her head. My daughter is also happy to do it because she knows she will look even cuter.

She loves her big brother very much. She calls him "toto" instead of koko (big brother). She kisses him. She hugs him. She grins from ear to ear whenever she sees her brother. She also loves to draw on toto's legs. Her brother loves her very much too. They seldom fight for toys or for attention.

I can go on and on telling you about my daughter. She’s just so amazing. She’s such a lovely and beautiful little girl. Happy 1st birthday my little princess! Mommy never stops praying for you. Thank you God for this beautiful gift in my life.

Learning Tagalog

I have been having private tutoring sessions for Filipino language with my husband for nearly a month now and we are happy to say that we can understand a lot more words and can make more complete sentences in Tagalog.

We have fun learning the language together as my husband and I always try to compete with each other in understanding the language. Both of us have great passion in learning a new language. For us, it is important to be able to understand what the people talk about so that we can gain more knowledge about them, their culture, & their way of life so that we can interact with them and blend in easily.

My husband knows how to speak many languages very well. When I see him switching languages from one language to another, it's like choosing a language using a DVD remote control... :-)
For him, his knowledge of Spanish and Malay languages helps him in understanding Tagalog words. Many of Tagalog words are taken from the Spanish language as Philippines was occupied by Spanish for a very long time. Many Tagalog words are also similar with Malay language as Malaysian Malays were one of the first inhabitants of Philippines.

For me, though I don't speak Spanish, my knowledge of French and Indonesian languages help me to understand Tagalog words. In fact, some Tagalog words are the same as Javanese language (I found out from my tutor, the Indonesians were also one of many first inhabitants of Philippines) and I get the advantage of it as I can understand Indonesian Javanese dialect too. So, yeah, 50-50 for me and my husband. But when we did our 1st test, I scored better than my husband! That was because my brain is so empty…:D (My husband said if Albert Einstein heard this he would laugh at me because according to Einstein, he only used 5% of his brain when in fact he studied all the time. So, in a way I have admitted that I never study at all…:D).

Oh well, I think my brain has more space than my husband’s brain because I don't work at the office reporting to someone. So it is easier for me to remember things. Besides, I have studied well before we took the test and my husband had no time to study because he was very busy at work.

My husband has been practicing Tagalog with his colleagues and for me, I practice my Tagalog with my driver and my maid. I also get a chance to practice Tagalog when I go to the market and my maid and my driver always come to my rescue with no delay :D

It's great to be able to learn a new language especially with someone equally passionate about it.